Liverpool end Priority Ticket Scheme

There scrapping the PTS lads and moving all the people that were on PTS into the Membership scheme. I was on the waiting list but one of the lads on a fellow LFC forum got a letter this morning in the post from Ian Ayres to confirm that the PTS scheme is being scrapped as from July this year.

The club are going to be bringing a new Membership campaign advertisements soon.

Touts will be having a fookin field day now thanks to the muppets on our board who are running the club. Travel agents are touts too.

I appreciate some fans on here are members of the PTS but I for onewelcome the move.

There were a limit of 10,000 PTS members paying £55 a year who had access to 5,000 tickets at Anfield.  Nobody new could join the scheme and it was effectively a closed shop.

Meanwhile LFC members paid £29 a season and were left to fight for the scraps amongst themselves.  Often seeing very little return on their £29.

The PTS scheme, in my view, has been seriously abused and I think it is right that PTS scheme is cancelled.

50% of PTS members attended 3 or less games which basically meant that for the other 5,000 they practically had a season ticket.

Let's hope the atmosphere improves when people have to 'fight' for their ticket?

I think on the whole, it's better for fans that there's a level playing field when it comes to getting tickets.

I understand some people will be pissed off if they're on the PTS or were soon to be joining it but it is very difficult to please everyone.

There are pro's and cons about the membership's too of course but I feel this is a positive step by the club.

JD,

I see where your coming from to a certain extent but i look at it differently coming from being a PTS member (sorry was )

Every home match 10,000 tickets were on offer to PTS members to buy.
If only 5,000 of these were sold the rest would be passed onto e-ticket/fancard holders and then onto general sale.

This year those 10,000 PTS members will be dumped into the pot along with fancard holders and general public etc sale,this will make it even harder to get hold of a ticket for everyone and i suspect that there will be no such thing as a general public sale in the future,which is sad as this brings no new blood into the club.

Travelling from Northern Ireland,being in the PTS scheme was a blessing as it gave you the opportunity to pre book the cheap flights knowing you had a 1 in 2 chance in getting match ticket no this has gone and it will drive a lot of travelling support away from anfield.

Stated in the letter that i recieved was :

"The PTS scheme has run in its current format for a number of years and over the past couple of seasons, we have seen a significant drop in the number of PTS members applying for tickets. At the same time, we have seen a large increase in the number of supporters joining the Official Membership Scheme."

Now,any man and his dog knows just how hard it was too get into the PTS so how in hell can they come out with a statement like this.

But then again Liverpool Fc is a buisness not a football club these dasy and i totally believe that this was a decsion that was all about money to help pay off the americans debt and nothing to do with the fans...............

So it's went from,

£55 for a PTS member card with a 1 in 2 chance of getting a ticket to a £29 for a fancard with a 1 in  say 35000 chance of anyone getting a ticket(taking out season tickets and the likes )

Doesnt sound like value for money to me........

I appreciate some fans on here are members of the PTS but I for onewelcome the move.

There were a limit of 10,000 PTS members paying £55 a year who had access to 5,000 tickets at Anfield.  Nobody new could join the scheme and it was effectively a closed shop.

Meanwhile LFC members paid £29 a season and were left to fight for the scraps amongst themselves.  Often seeing very little return on their £29.

The PTS scheme, in my view, has been seriously abused and I think it is right that PTS scheme is cancelled.

50% of PTS members attended 3 or less games which basically meant that for the other 5,000 they practically had a season ticket.

I'm (was) a member of the PTS.  I go (went) to every home game, league, cups and European.  I'm one of the idiots that queued in all weathers at 5am when the European tickets went on sale.

There was a waiting list to get on the PTS. If 50% went to 3 or less games then it is easy to cancel their membership and let people on who want to attend all the games.  The whole explanation from Ian Ayre is garbage.  I suspect the real reason is that members get bugger all for their £29 and this  is a way of keeping or increasing membership.  I suspect that people were realising they were getting very little and membership was falling off.  What it is in fact doing is charging £29 for the right to try, mostly unsuccessfully, to buy a ticket.

It is another example of the contempt in which that the club holds the fans and another way to rip us off without giving us any benefit.  Lets face it why bother to build a new stadium and increase the number of tickets available when you can get money from people who want to attend games but have little or no chance of doing so.

An alternative would be prioritise fans who regularly attend games like they do for the European games.  Ah but this wouldn't get you all those £29 for providing bugger all would it? 

I'm glad JD welcomes the move.  Here's my personal message to him.  F*ck Off.   

Let's hope the atmosphere improves when people have to 'fight' for their ticket?

What evidence have you that the PTS members are less passionate about the team than season ticket holders?  I think it's the season ticket holders who moan, groan, boo and expect to be entertained rather than roar the team on.  But then I haven't got any evidence for that either.  I won't criticise the people who try to get tickets through the general sale.  They have to be passionate to go what they go through to get a ticket.

Do you fight for your ticket or are you one of the dead men with a season ticket?  The ones who don't have to queue at a godforsaken hour to get a European ticket.  The ones who at least have a chance of getting a ticket if we get to the final.   

So it's went from,

£55 for a PTS member card with a 1 in 2 chance of getting a ticket to a £29 for a fancard with a 1 in  say 35000 chance of anyone getting a ticket(taking out season tickets and the likes )

Doesnt sound like value for money to me........

Well a few thousand tickets have just become available so chances of a member getting a ticket have improved. 

I'd say most PTS members were bang on to get a ticket for about 90+% of the games they wanted to. So it was, in effect, a season ticket.  I know how these things were working.  I know they were being bunched together, and I know its how 20 odd lads can get tickets and come over for a stag weekend.

The PTS may have had 10,000 members but if 5,000 were going to 3 games or less then lets face it - the other 5,000 basically had season tickets.

The present season ticket system is flawed in my view, but the PTS scheme was about as bad.  Anfield has 27,000 season ticket holders now.  Last season and for the seasons before there was effectively 32,000 season ticket holders.

What evidence have you that the PTS members are less passionate about the team than season ticket holders? 

Putting words in to my mouth there.  I never said PTS members had less passion than season ticket holders.  But, like I said above, the PTS scheme (to me) was basically an extended season ticket.

I have no doubt that people may begin to value their match ticket a little bit more than previously and I hope that reflects in an improvement in atmosphere. 

Now that that's done,

Optical scanning next for season ticket holders to see how many of them actually go to every game, and if you don't go to 80% yourself you lose your season ticket.

Let's hope the atmosphere improves when people have to 'fight' for their ticket?

Putting words in to my mouth there.  I never said PTS members had less passion than season ticket holders.  But, like I said above, the PTS scheme (to me) was basically an extended season ticket.

Don't think I'm putting any words in your mouth.  Why would this change impact on season ticket holders and their attitude?  The only people it impacts on are the PTS members who regularly attend games.  The inference is clear that the atmosphere will improve because we are now having to fight for tickets.  You can stop digging now.

If you think the atmosphere will improve if only people who fight for their tickets get into the game then cancel all season tickets.  They would still fill the stadium, get more income and all fans would have an equal chance of a ticket.

If you find this suggestion horrendous then you might just begin to grasp the impact it has had on me.  I will not be attending all the home games next season because I will not be able to get a ticket.  I can't hang on the phone for hours trying to get through and being charged for the privilege of being told there is nobody available to take your call.  Not if I want to keep my job anyway.

Still glad you think it is still a good idea.

We still haven't heard how it is going to impact on you?

I'm another PTS member (or was) and have been to virtually every home game league and cup for the last 5 years since I've been on the scheme.  (And another mug queuing outside the ground for cup tickets).  I reckon I'll be lucky to get to a couple of games next season now.  I'm so pissed off by this decision I've registered on this site just to moan!

Its bollox to say that "there has been a significant drop in the number of PTS members applying for tickets"  as claimed by Ian Ayre... I know because for every game the PTS phone lines were mad busy as soon as the tickets were released and you rarely got through.  The PTS tickets were usually sold out by lunchtime.

The reason for scrapping this scheme is probably to release more tickets for those with a few bob who will go to the odd game who then spend loads in the club shop.  Thats why the atmosphere is going down the pan!

I'm happy for JD who thinks its a good idea but for me it just means I probably won't get to the game!  Gutted!

I have sympathy for those who have had their PTS taken away from them, because at the end of the day all we want to do is go the match.

I'm not sure why you suddenly become a mug if you're queuing for tickets when it's a cup competition though? Isn't this the same as waiting in line to get into a priority ticket scheme, but you've got less chance?

I'd give anything to be able to queue for a league game ticket!!

I'd give anything to be able to queue for a league game ticket!!

The good old days eh Ken ? 

Don't think I'm putting any words in your mouth.  Why would this change impact on season ticket holders and their attitude?  The only people it impacts on are the PTS members who regularly attend games.  The inference is clear that the atmosphere will improve because we are now having to fight for tickets.  You can stop digging now.

If you think the atmosphere will improve if only people who fight for their tickets get into the game then cancel all season tickets.  They would still fill the stadium, get more income and all fans would have an equal chance of a ticket.

If you find this suggestion horrendous then you might just begin to grasp the impact it has had on me.  I will not be attending all the home games next season because I will not be able to get a ticket.  I can't hang on the phone for hours trying to get through and being charged for the privilege of being told there is nobody available to take your call.  Not if I want to keep my job anyway.

Still glad you think it is still a good idea.

We still haven't heard how it is going to impact on you?

I appreciate you're pissed off about it but it's not my fault.  I agree with your idea that maybe taking the 5,000 who went to less than 3 games off the list is a good idea.

I never said PTS members had less passion than season ticket holders.  That's a ridiculous accusation to make.   

We still haven't heard how it is going to impact on you?

I was away at Uni in Newcastle many moons ago when the PTS scheme was set up and have been on the waiting list to get on one since, and I've been on the season ticket waiting list for probably about 13 years.

The only option left to me has been to get a fancard. 

I've consistently made clear my belief that fans should have the opportunity to buy tickets at the window a day before they go on the phone lines or for postal applications.

It's been extremely difficult for me to get a ticket and I've had to rely on the good nature of others who have got lucky.  I expect next season to be just as difficult to get a ticket so it doesn't impact on me at all.

I have no doubt that people such as yourself have been sh*t on from a great height and the club could have done more to recycle PTS memberships of those that didn't attend many games.

And finally Liverpool will be doubling the capacity of Adult/Child tickets inside Anfield which will reduce Liverpool's revenue for Premier League games by about £330,000 a season.

That's £330,000 that will be better in the pockets of Dads and Lads (or girls) who have been forced to pay for two adult tickets.

What is your point about adult/child tickets.Do you not want children to go.Children are the next generation of Liverpool fans.

The good old days eh Ken ? 

Indeed Smiggs! 

This is what Ian Ayre had to say after SOS got onto him about the PTS.

Thanks for your email about SOS members and their issues over the changes to the PTS. As I have said to you before I am happy to have an open dialogue with the Supporters Union as well as any other supporters and believe that we need more open communication.

What we released this week were the details of the PTS being amalgamated into the LFC Membership system. What we have not yet done is finalised the selling criteria around what will become the "members sale".

We understand that some people will have gained loyalty from attending games via the PTS and that some PTS members will have been to many more games than others. Once we have finished our work on the selling processes and criteria we will of course share that with everyone including any members of the PTS who are also your Union members, but we have ensure that we get that right and ensure it works before we communicate it.

I hope that helps clarify where we are up to, if you have any further questions just let me know.

Full article is here: http://www.spiritofshankly.com/news/PTS-_-LFC-Response.html

i was a pts member along with my brother and I'm gutted that they've ditched it all together.Ive probably missed about 5 league games in the two years we where on it.effectively it was like having a season ticket but you.i just hope they take into some sort of loyalty record into the new members scheme!
i think the excuse of the club that the pts scheme wasn't used enough by members is a poor one because you'd usually see the same faces in your area.i think its because the members who went to the games regularly would just turn up watch the game and go home.by passing the club shop!
i also find it quite funny how a lot f people suddenly think yes the atmosphere will be better now thatnew people will be attendingthe games.i think it will go the other way andget worse with a lot more day trippers going to the games.

jesus sorry for the bad post!

I get confused about all these different ways of getting tickets nowadays so let me get this straight, previous tickets sold on the PTS scheme are now being moved to the membership scheme which is the one any fan can join for £29 a season? Right?

its easy the pts members were taking the piss end off story

its easy the pts members were taking the piss end off story

So that's 5,000 to 10,000 fans taking the piss. Way off there with that statement softarse.

We've already heard a PTS member saying they effectively had a season ticket.

Sorry, but I think that's taking the piss.

I think that the added work required to get a ticket as a direct result of the PTS system being scrapped will add that extra gratitude of being at the game.

It's a sad thing to contemplate but I'm sure a lot of fans feel a sort of complacency when it comes to attending games. A lot of people, including myself, feel a great pride in going to the match and offering my support (which, let's be honest, is what we're there for). I'd give anything to go every week but I simply don't earn enough money to command a ticket at my own leisure. The problem being at the moment however is that money isn't as good as it could be and when the money does turn up, I find it hard to get a ticket because of the tickets being snapped up.

As I've mentioned previously in this thread, we have a very level playing field regarding tickets now. It's disappointing for the people who were previously on the PTS system but for the Membership section of Liverpool fans, it's a sign that the £30 a year is going to be worth it this year, as upto now hasn't produced any tickets for myself.